Henry S. Cotton, Jr. was born in Philadelphia, PA. He is a product of the Philadelphia public school system. Upon graduating from High school in June of 1974, six days later he attended West Chester State College. After just two years of college, he entered into The United States Marine Corps. While serving in the Marine Corps, the Lord sent Henry to preach the gospel. Henry became a licensed preacher in 1977, and was later ordained in 1981. Henry has been in Christian ministry since 1971 when he was ordained as a Deacon.
After being honorably discharged in 1979, Henry married Cheryl Judith Chisholm in August of 1980. The Lord blessed them to be married for thirty-three (33) years before the Lord took Cheryl home in 2013. They were blessed with three children: Henry S. Cotton, III, Alexander Brandon Cotton, and Christopher Edward George Cotton (who joined his mother to be with the Lord in December of 2019).
Henry attended Cheyney State College. In 1982, Henry obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Arts from Cheyney State College, and began teaching public school in Camden, NJ. In 1988, Henry went back to what is now Cheyney University to obtain his Master of Science Degree in Education Administration, along with his Secondary Principal’s Certification.
In 1997, Henry started teaching in the Chester Upland public school system. It was while teaching in the Chester schools that Henry found his passion for teaching children with Special needs, so he became certified in Special Education, and went from teaching Industrial Arts classes to becoming a Special Education teacher. He retired from teaching in the Chester-Upland Public School School District in 2012. In 2014, Henry obtained a Master’s Degree in Christian Counseling from Grand Canyon University.
In 2017, Henry married Karen Middleton. Both Karen and Henry are active Philadelphia Police Chaplains, working in the 17th Police District.
Henry’s first pastorate was at the Unity Baptist Church (his home church) in Philadelphia, PA, but he is now the Pastor of the St. James Missionary Baptist Church also located in Philadelphia, PA.